Analysis Of Public Health Conditions In Edgewater, New Jersey

According to the American Journal of Public Health, public health nursing is essential in order to provide the community with good health, prevent disease and ultimately extend the individual’s life. For this to happen, research and assessments are conducted on the community in different ways to collect data. For example, data include the community’s health risks, demographics completed by the town’s census data, environment and a community windshield survey. These methods help in finding ways to promote better health for its community. It is also useful to better understand the community.

In order to address the public’s concerns and improve its health, understanding one’s community is needed. While assessing the health needs for Edgewater, New Jersey, the assessment included the population’s overall health, risk factors, causes of an illness and interventions needed to address them. The assessment of the community of the town of Edgewater, New Jersey was done using the windshield survey and collecting ample data. Through the windshield survey, I was able to get familiar with the community on a better level by walking and driving through the town. Edgewater, New Jersey is a modern looking town in a suburb location, approximately 10 minutes from New York City. According to the United States Census Bureau 2016, its population is 11,998 (United States Census Bureau, 2016). It represents many areas of different religions, values, and median income, therefore creating a community full of diversity.

Transportation in Edgewater is mainly by automobiles with accessible bus stops. Conversely, there are not enough bicycle lanes on some streets in order to offer extra safety and space for pedestrians. This has created a problem for both pedestrians and the community. Several accidents have been reported in the past. In today’s society many individuals become easily distracted with electronics and navigation systems while walking, biking or driving. Distractions like these can make it very dangerous for an individual to cross the street potentially causing an accident. While assessing Edgewater, NJ faded crosswalks and not enough bike lanes were noted. This is an important health need for the community. Aside from the distractions, the crosswalks alone also make it very difficult to see and for traffic to stop once a pedestrian stands on it.

Crosswalks are essential in order to provide individuals a safe pathway to cross. These landmarks are designated paths for. This should aware the driver to proceed with caution, stop and go. Edgewater’s headquarters police department has regulations and legislations for drivers, but the busy roads with not enough safety for pedestrians are dangerous. This affects and creates problems for the town of Edgewater as a whole, especially for the pedestrians. This affects the overall well-being for the Edgewater community. More planning, implementation and the consideration of the safety for the pedestrian is key. This health need is recurrently overlooked and the idea that nearly every person at some point in time is considered a pedestrian is unnoticed. Serious actions should be taken to the issues associated with pedestrian safety.

Accidents involving pedestrians are very common in Edgewater, NJ. According to City Data, statistics show that about 16 pedestrians were involved in fatal accidents in Edgewater, NJ. It also showed that about 211 individuals were also involved in fatal accidents (Fatal car crashes and road traffic accidents in Edgewater, New Jersey, 2018). It is evident that this shows the importance of having better crosswalks, bicycle lanes and education on pedestrian safety. While assessing the community, it was also clear that walking was the most used type of transport. Providing accessibility to this mode of transport for all the individuals of the community is essential. This problem applies to all members of the community from the mobility impaired to the very young and old.

This safety issue is an important topic the community believes should be addressed immediately. Like mentioned before, this safety problem affects all individuals but the population most affected by this were parents who resided in Edgewater, NJ. Mortalities are more probable to happen when the accident involves children, especially children between five and nine years old. Parents are partnering up with the town’s council members in order to help reduce the risk of children becoming victims of a pedestrian-related accident. One of the benefits for Edgewater, NJ is the idea of allowing community meetings to be available to the public. These community meetings are well attended by the community. The residents of Edgewater, NJ are open to change and are currently finding ways to make pedestrian safety a top priority.

Whenever you bring a community together for a particular problem it is evident one will have more than one opinion. It is also obvious that some problems might be resolved or addressed first than other dilemmas. In Edgewater, NJ communication is key. Whenever an issue does not get resolved, residents design a bigger petition and bring it to the council members to negotiate a solution. Council members are open to change and are open to ideas to make their community a great one. Because the public health nurse also plays a huge role in the community, residents also include Patricia Dalton, public health nurse, when an issue arises. Once council members see how important it is to fix an issue and how important it is to residents, they put all their efforts to solve the problem.